Edmond Chan

Much has been written about Nassim Taleb’s famous passage in The Black Swan about the antilibrary. (Farnam Street and Maria Popova)
From The Black Swan (p1, 2008 Random House International Edition)
“The writer Umberto Eco belongs to that small class of scholars who are encyclopedic, insightful, and nondull. He is the owner of a large personal library (containing thirty thousand books), and separates visitors into two categories: those who react with “Wow! Signore professore dottore Eco, what a library you have! How many of these books have you read?” and the others — a very small minority — who get the point that a private library is …

I often get asked by my friends to suggest places to eat in London. Eating and drinking are two of my favourite pastimes.
London eating and drinking is very hit and miss. There's far more terrible and average places than good places and when London is so expensive, that means that most places are awful value for money.
Here's my favourite places based on quality, atmosphere and value for money:
1. Padella, Borough Market
This is the best pasta in London. It's great value and there's no reservations, so get there early or be prepared to put your name down and wait. The queue can be massive. Pop off to the Wheatsheaf pub nearby for a drink …

I've written quite a bit on mental health in the past. Articles like:
How can we improve mental health?
Try this breathing exercise for stress release and getting rid of cortisol
Crush your OCD with this one question
Defeating anxiety and stress
But recently, I've been wondering about another question. What is psychological health? We hear a lot about what mental illness is but what about its opposite? What does a psychologically healthy person's mind look like?
Much in the same way as an out-of-shape person has to aim to be an in-shape person, a person struggling with mental health has to know what they're aiming at for …

I recently discovered Mel Robbins on Instagram. She puts out great Instagram content such as:
“What would @oprah do?” - That simple question is the key to making better decisions. It’s what I always ask myself when I’m weighing options and have a tough decision to make. By asking “what would @oprah do”, I literally CHANGE the way I think. It’s called the “power of objectivity” and in this video I share this powerful tool with you. - When I consider any problem from Oprah’s perspective, I silence my emotions, think creatively and have the ability be more strategic about the choices in front of me. It works like a charm. - Now it’s …

Following on from my previous post on minimalizing my flat, I got the urge to minimalize my iPhone screens.
The amount of time I waste scrolling through my home screens looking for an app probably adds up to hours a year. I had 5 screens with countless apps and no real order to them. The only 'order' was the order in which I downloaded them.
Assume that I look for an app I use frequently eg. Whatsapp or iMessage and 10 times a day, and assume it takes 5 seconds each time to find it, that's 50 seconds per app per day just to find the thing! That's almost 6 mins a week just to find one app!
It's not just the time waste. It's the …

I've been wanting to get into minimalism for a while now. The movement started with blogs like The Minimalists, Becoming Minimalist and Zen Habits, and exploded with Marie Kondo's book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying: A simple, effective way to banish clutter forever.
The promise of minimalism is that by getting rid of what you don't need, materially or otherwise, you allow room for more important things. You also feel less burdened by all your stuff and therefore freer in your mind. What's not to like!
We had a recent decluttering exercise in our flat, in preparation for photos for selling it. We wanted it to look super clear with …

1. Manage your testosterone
Testosterone for men is essential and the defining hormone that makes a man a man. High levels make you feel confident and rambunctious and aggressive. It makes you lean and muscular and gives you a strong sex drive. What's not to like? In terms of testosterone, we're supposed to be half the men our fathers and grandfathers were. Testosterone is produced at night and your body needs sleep and dietary fat to produce it. So eat red meat, nuts, butter and oil and get your sleep. And stay away from stress as well as stress produces cortisol, the stress hormone, and the testosterone killer.
2. The mind and body are …

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Hi there! I’m Edmond Chan

I write about positivity, mindset, travel, money, and books. Hope you enjoy the site!

A bit of disclaimer – worth a read

I do write some stuff about financial topics such as cryptocurrency and investing. I am not a financial professional and please don’t rely on what I say to make financial decisions. Please check with your financial adviser before making these decisions.